Renaissance (vol 1)
by Obsidian3
Summary: First Elsa shut her out, then her parents sent her away to boarding school. Finally, Anna can take no more, and moves in with her aunt and uncle in Corona. Set before and during the events of Tangled. (x-posted from the crossover category)
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: _Frozen _and _Tangled _are both owned by Disney. Believe me, if I actually owned any percentage of either, I'd have a LOT more free time to devote to writing.

Summary: First Elsa shut her out, then her parents sent her away to boarding school. Finally, Anna can take no more, and moves in with her aunt and uncle in Corona. Set before and during the events of Tangled.

* * *

_"Go away, Anna!"_

I just didn't understand it. Elsa and I had been the best of friends, once. We'd done everything together: we'd played, we'd read (well, really Elsa had read to me, but she'd done her best to teach me the words, always so patient with my inevitable mistakes), we'd played, I'd sat through her lessons with the Royal Tutors (okay, so maybe I did distract her a bit now and then... Being too serious like that wasn't good for her! Besides, I'd been too young to have lessons of my own, yet), and we'd played.

Did I mention that we'd played? Because we did.

And then...

Well, I don't know what had changed. That was kind of the problem. All of a sudden, one day Elsa moved out of our room into her own... and shut me out of her life. I saw her at most meals, though she took pains to sit as far away from me as possible. Even then, she wouldn't talk to me. _No one _would tell me why my sister, the person I loved more than anyone else in the whole world, suddenly couldn't stand my presence, anymore.

She still talked to Mama and Papa. _They _were allowed in her room. She still had her lessons (which I was no longer allowed to attend), she still interacted with Kai and Gerda and the other servants.

(Hadn't we had more, at one point? I could vaguely recall far more people bustling about... though that memory also said the gates should be open, and that was NOT allowed.)

* * *

_"Not now, Anna."_

I wasn't even surprised. Ever since Elsa had shut herself away - had shut me out - Mama and Papa had spend less and less time with me. Even when they were around, they always seemed so distracted and troubled...

Naturally, I took it upon myself to try and cheer them up. I made myself be extra super happy and playful, reasoning that no one _wanted _to be in a bad mood, so they just needed a little help.

All I ever seemed to do was irritate them.

More and more, I'd noticed, anything that I needed that I couldn't do myself was being done by the palace staff. Gerda helped me with any clothing that required more than one person to put on, and supervised the small but growing number of meals that I was otherwise alone for. On the distressingly rare occasions when I was allowed outside at all (usually just in the garden), I was accompanied by Kai.

The rest of the time, I was left alone.

I stopped playing with dolls - what good are toys like that when you have no one to play with? - and took to conversing with paintings. I made up histories (for those that didn't already have them, like Joan), personalities, likes and dislikes...

When the normally friendly young girl in the pink dress whom I'd named Katherine said something bad about Elsa, I didn't talk to her again for an entire week.

I'd finally begun lessons of my own, which were _SO _much less fun without someone to talk to, or make faces at behind the tutor's back. At least those earlier shared lessons meant I had, as the tutor put it, "a good foundation to build on".

Still, if this was what Mama and Papa wanted, I'd do it. In the back of my mind, I was convinced that if I was a good enough girl, and learned how to be a princess well enough, they'd want to spend time with me, again. Maybe even Elsa...?

* * *

_"Anna, please, I'm very busy right now..."_

It was getting harder, to force the smile to stay on my face. I had to, though. Happy, sunny, cheerful Anna was the only one who got any attention beyond what was required from the servants.

I couldn't be upset with Elsa. (I _couldn't_! I wouldn't _allow _it!) She was, as Father pointed out so frequently, going to be Queen one day. It was a huge responsibility, and certainly not one I wanted (even if then people would _have to _pay attention to me... No! No thinking like that!), so of course she had to devote her time to preparing for it.

(I still didn't see why she couldn't take a break now and then, non-stop work like that couldn't be healthy... I could even help her! The one time I suggested that, though, during one of the extremely rare times we all ate together, something that might have been panic flew through her eyes, and she asked to be excused before she'd even had dessert. Father had sternly told me I needed to focus more on my own lessons, and leave helping about Elsa to him. He is the King, so I guess it makes sense that he'd know best how to help her prepare, but still... No, no, be a good girl, Anna.)

I couldn't be upset with Mother and Father, either. Even with my ongoing lessons, I didn't understand everything they had to do, what responsibilities they had, but there must have been a lot of them, because they were _always _busy. They never asked me about my day, what I'd been up to, how my lessons went... Trying to tell them anyway would just result in being told "Not now", "Perhaps later", or "Why don't you go find Gerda?"

(They were the ones who'd assigned me these lessons in the first place! Why wouldn't they- No, no. Good girl. You're a good girl, Anna. You have to be.)

I couldn't be upset with Kai or Gerda... Well, because I couldn't. They actually noticed me. Saw me. Cared about me. I did my best to stay out of trouble, because I couldn't bare the thought of either of them being disappointed in me.

(Did I disappoint Mother and Father? Was that why I almost never saw them, anymore? Had... Had I done something wrong? Something bad? Something that... That... Was that why Elsa...?)

The only good thing about the palace being so deserted was that it wasn't too hard to find a nice, secluded spot to let the mask drop, every now and then. Everyone was so used to the happy, energetic, loud Princess Anna that, if I was quiet, I could escape detection almost indefinitely. Only if I was quiet, though.

That was fine; I'd taught myself to cry silently years ago.

I tried not to need to do so often. Good girls were happy and bright and sunny, after all, and I _needed _to be a good girl. That was what everyone wanted, after all. The only thing they'd ever seemed to want, from me. It was like what Father had said to me that one time.

Well, okay, he hadn't been talking to me. He never really talked to me. (Sometimes, in my weaker moments, I wondered if he even remembered that he actually had _two _daughters.) I'd been eavesdropping (politely!), like I sometimes did when I wanted to pretend he was talking to me. It could have been Mother, one of the staff, maybe even (though somewhat unlikely) Elsa. I hadn't been able to stay long, since I'd heard Gerda coming, so I have no idea what he'd been referring to, or even how it had come up in conversation. It had just seemed to fit _me _so perfectly, to have almost been _directed _at me, that when I'd snuck away, I was happier than I'd been in ages.

"Conceal it, don't feel it," I whispered softly to myself. "Don't let it show."

And maybe...

Just maybe...

Maybe if I did it well enough...

Maybe they'd love me again.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: _Frozen _and _Tangled _are both owned by Disney. Believe me, if I actually owned any percentage of either, I'd have a LOT more free time to devote to writing. The lyrics included are from the song "Good Girl", by Melanie Chisholm.

Summary: First Elsa shut her out, then her parents sent her away to boarding school. Finally, Anna can take no more, and moves in with her aunt and uncle in Corona. Set before and during the events of Tangled.

* * *

I sat in Father's office, too stunned by what I'd just been told to say anything in response.

It should have been a euphoric moment. One of the maids had been sent to seek me out, carrying word that Father wanted to talk to me. To _me_! Specifically! I'd been so happy, I hadn't quite managed to keep myself from running through the halls on the way there. It wasn't very princess-like behavior, but I didn't care. In that moment, I wasn't the Princess of Arendelle, I was a girl going to see her father. Who could blame me for being excited?

I even managed not to damage anything, or trip more than twice - and even then, I recovered before hitting the ground, which I considered a major accomplishment.

I'd barely managed to contain myself when he asked me to sit down in the seat across the desk from him, just like one of the important foreign dignatories he often received. (Or he had, anyway. Did he, still, even with the gates closed? Not being allowed near any such official business of state, I had no idea.) At the time, I'd felt proud, thrilled that he was treating me in the only way I'd ever seen him talk to those he believed _mattered._

Looking back, the fact that he approached the conversation like he would with a foreigner - a _stranger_ - rather than a talk between family was telling. It had been so long since I'd spoken with him as a daughter, though, since I'd seen him in any kind of familial setting... Well, I couldn't remember what that even looked like.

Then he told me what he'd called me in to talk about, and I was so shocked that I was briefly struck dumb.

"You're... Y-You're sending me away?" I finally managed to ask, not even noticing how small my voice sounded. "What... Did I do something wrong?"

He grimaced uncomfortably, likely not wanting to have to deal with an overly emotional daughter. "Of course not. This will be a great opportunity for you. They have some of the best educators in the world there, and there will be a large number of girls your own age for you to make friends with."

As enticing as the prospect of making new friends might have otherwise been... "I'm learning a lot from my tutors!" I insisted loyally. "And I could make friends here if you'd just open the gates-"

"Anna..."

"-or let me see Els-"

"Anna!" I flinched at his sudden shout, and he quickly dropped his voice back to normal. Still, that moment would stick with me. "This isn't open for debate. You're going, end of story. This is for your own good, so I suggest you get used to the idea. You'll have two weeks to pack everything you want to bring with you."

"...two weeks...?" That was it? I only had two weeks before... before they got rid of me? "May I be excused?" I asked softly, eyes locked on his desk. Upon receiving permission, I got out of the chair and dully walked to the door. I couldn't bear to look back, in case his face revealed what a disappointment I was to him.

* * *

It was probably foolish - I _knew _that it was probably foolish - but I needed to talk to someone, someone who might actually be able to do something. (As much as I talked to her about everything, I knew Joan wouldn't be much help in this situation.)

So, I instinctively headed for Elsa's room.

I rapped my knuckles against the wood a few times, as I'd recently begun to do in favor of my previous, more energetic knock. "Elsa?" I began tremulously.

There was no answer. There never was. Still, I knew she was in there - she always was, this time of day - so, as usual, I continued on, anyway. "Elsa, I... I need your help."

Nothing.

"They're sending me away," I said, voice breaking. I couldn't cry; I wouldn't allow it. Not until I was alone.

Silence. Was it shocked silence? Angry?

Relieved?

I didn't know, anymore. "I... What did I do wrong? Do you know? Father wouldn't tell me. Just... said it was for my own good."

"...it is."

I nearly fell backwards in surprise. I couldn't remember the last time I'd gotten a reply other than 'go away'. "But _why_?! If this school is so great, and I'll learn so much there, why didn't they ever send you, too? You're the important one."

"'The important one'...?" I could hear her suck in a breath, as if she'd been physically struck by my words, which made no sense. Father and Mother had made it very clear over the years that Elsa was the one who mattered, after all, even if they'd never actually come out and said it. I was just the spare. I knew that.

I didn't especially _like _it, but I knew it.

"It's too dangerous for me to leave," Elsa told me, and I couldn't quite figure out the strange mix of emotions in her voice. Sadness? Disgust? Fear?

Fear of what? The Elsa I remembered wasn't afraid of anything.

"What does that mean?" I asked, fighting down a shiver. It always seemed to get so cold in front of her door, for some reason. I'd asked, but no one ever seemed to know why.

"It just... I just can't!" she burst out, sniffling.

Was she crying?

I instinctively reached out to try and open the door (despite knowing it was always locked), to try and get to her... only to yank my hand back from the doorknob with a hiss.

The metal was so cold it _burned._

"Go away, Anna," she said, voice almost steady. Almost. "You have to go away _now._"

Blinking back my own tears, I snapped, before I could think better of it, "Wait two weeks, and you'll finally get your wish."

Anything she might have said or done in reply... Well, let's be honest. Even if I hadn't been hurrying down the hall to get to my own bedroom before my emotional control completely failed, she wouldn't have tried to comfort me.

She hadn't done that in years.

* * *

The next two weeks seemed to somehow blur past in the blink of an eye, and slow to a crawl as the date of my banishment approached with dreadful inevitability. I mostly felt numb, and all but sleepwalked through the final lessons with my tutors. I could barely work up any enthusiasm for meals, despite Gerda's good-natured nagging to eat something, anything.

What did it matter? What did _any _of it matter?

I still did it, of course. I was a Princess, after all, and there were expectations of me. Despite everything, I hated the thought of disappointing anyone. And I would be representing all of Arendelle at this school, wouldn't I? It was my duty to show the Institut Kronenberg in Switzerland my best, and, if nothing else, I refused to let _Arendelle _down.

When not studying or forcing myself to ignore my lack of appetite, I was packing. I couldn't take everything, obviously - I couldn't even take a lot - but Gerda had assured me that everything I left behind would be there waiting for me when I got back.

Toys were (obviously) not coming (not that I'd touched any in ages), I could only fit so many books in my trunk, and clothing had to be selected by how ladylike it would make me seem. (I allowed myself a select few items for more casual times, like while sleeping.)

The night before I was to leave, I couldn't sleep a wink. (It didn't help that the sky was also awake; I'd never been able to sleep when that happened. To this day, I have no idea why.) There was nothing left to do, after all, but think about what was coming. Nothing to distract myself with.

No one to see me drop my mask for a while.

_"I feel so bad,"_ I sang softly to myself. _"Never felt like this 'bout anything, I never have."_ So true. But what did it matter? I had to conceal my feelings, to be the happy, carefree girl everyone wanted me to be. _"No, please don't tell me that what's lost is lost, it's never gonna come back home."_

_"I walk in circles when there's no one around, try to find my own direction. I test the water but it burns my hand, as I disfigure my reflection. I've been a good girl, but you let me down..."_

Because they had, a voice in the back of my mind piped up. Everyone had. Yet here I was, about to leave behind everything I knew and loved, just to try and make them happy, to make them proud of me.

To make them love me.

'Do they really deserve that level of devotion?'

I had a lot of practice by now ignoring that voice.

_"I feel so bad... Never felt like this 'bout anything, I never have. No, please don't tell me that what's lost is lost, it's never gonna come back home._

_I lie in silence and I just can't sleep; how I long for your affection. My eyes are tired and my body is weak; I can't handle this rejection. And I think it's mean how you let me down."_

I tried to tell myself that they weren't rejecting me, really I did. This was for my own good, after all - Father had said so. I had to believe it. Because if I didn't...

No. It was. It had to be.

_"I feel so bad. Never felt like this 'bout anything, I never have. No, please don't tell me that what's meant to be is meant to be, it's no consolation."_

_"I'll carry on, proving everyone wrong. I will succeed..."_

I **would** make them proud. I **would **do my best, and then they'd **have** to acknowledge me the way I wanted them to:

As a loving sister, a dutiful daughter, and the Good Girl I tried **so hard** to be.

I just... wished I didn't have to do so alone, and so far from home.

_"I feel so bad. Never felt like this 'bout anything, I never have. No, please don't tell me that what's lost is lost, it's never gonna come back home._

_I feel so bad. Never felt like this 'bout anything, I never have. No, please don't tell me that what's meant to be is meant to be, it's no consolation..."_

I did manage to drift off to sleep eventually. If I dreamed, I don't remember them.

All considered, that's probably a good thing.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: _Frozen _and _Tangled _are both owned by Disney. Believe me, if I actually owned any percentage of either, I'd have a LOT more free time to devote to writing. The lyrics included are from the song "First Day Of My Life" by Melanie C.

Summary: First Elsa shut her out, then her parents sent her away to boarding school. Finally, Anna can take no more, and moves in with her aunt and uncle in Corona. Set before and during the events of Tangled.

* * *

My parents actually did come down to the docks to see me off.

I know. It surprised me, too.

Maybe it had finally sunk in that they wouldn't be seeing me again for months (I'd been assured that I would be coming home for the Winter break that encompassed Christmas and the start of the new year, as well as the shorter break in Spring for Easter), and it had sparked a long dormant parental instinct. Maybe the fact that they wouldn't have to deal with me for so long meant that they felt they could afford to be magnanimous with their affection.

Maybe they just wanted to ensure that I knew I had to be on my absolute best behavior while I was away, so as not to bring any shame to the kingdom.

I didn't know. Or, for that matter, overly care.

They were actually paying attention to _me _for once.

So I put on the bravest face I could muster, smiling and laughing and assuring them that I would be fine, that this would be an adventure, and _of course _I'd be good.

(It worried me, sometimes, how _easy _it had become to put on that mask. In truth, it was getting hard to drop it, even when I was alone. But maybe that was okay. That was the Anna that everyone wanted, after all. If I faked it long enough, would it still be a mask?)

I hugged them, which was an unfamiliar enough experience that I lingered for a few moments longer than necessary. (Had Mother always been so thin?) When _was _the last time I'd hugged them, anyway? Or anyone, for that matter?

...

...

...

...the fact that I couldn't even _remember _the last time was worrying. Well, I'd remember _this _time, at least.

They were sending a few guards with me, though only one would be allowed to stay at the school with me. (The school had its own guards, of course.) Given the limited space available, that did make sense, if personal guards were really required at all. Evidently, while the option was _available _to all who attended, only royalty usually took them up on it. (Something about the cost, maybe. I don't know. It wasn't like anyone ever discussed finances or politics or anything like that with _me_.) Which meant that this would be one more thing that would set me apart from everyone else.

It also didn't escape me that this would mean there would always be someone on hand that answered to my parents, who might be reporting to them about my conduct. That didn't bother me too much, though - I'd already planned on being on my best behavior for the years I was there. It was what I'd been doing for the past decade.

I didn't cry. My emotions were in such turmoil that I consider that something of an accomplishment. Mother's eyes actually grew a bit misty once or twice, which made a pleasant feeling spread through my stomach (or was that gas?)... at least until my traitorous mind asked me if she might be surpressing tears of happiness at not having to deal with me anymore for a while. Given how skilled she and Father were at avoiding spending any real time with me even when I was there, though, that idea didn't really make much sense.

(First time their habit of ignoring me was actually reassuring.)

As for Father... Well, he was as calm and reassuring as he could probably manage to be while maintaining his Royal Aura (yes, it's capitalized; you'd understand if you saw it) and remaining aware of our surroundings and anyone who might have noticed the long-secluded royal family was out in public. Truthfully, I was impressed by his ability to multitask so effortlessly like that; I knew I still had a lot to learn in that respect. Did he recognize that I was trying, I wondered? That I was at least concealing my true feelings? Burying them so deeply that I _almost _couldn't feel them anymore? I was trying so _hard _to be like him - like _Elsa _- that I liked to think he'd be proud, if he did. Proud of how well I was following his advice, if nothing else.

_Conceal it. Don't feel it._

The first part of the trip would be by sea, which was a novel enough experience that it distracted me enough to be able to say my goodbyes without my smile dimming in the slightest. I'd never actually been on a ship before - one of the guards accompanying me (I wasn't sure which would be staying with me at school, or what any of their names were, yet) assured me that I would get used to the constant rocking motion of the deck, though it wasn't actually bothering me - and hopefully that novelty would be enough to last the several days that the voyage would take.

The castle wasn't too far from the docks, but it was far enough that picking out tiny details was still rather difficult, if not impossible. My eyes still roamed the windows as the crew readied the ship for departure, searching out Elsa's room. I hadn't exactly been surprised that she hadn't also come to see me off... which wasn't to say that it didn't hurt. But I buried that like I did everything else, and...

Wait.

There was someone on one of the balconies. One of the few things I could see was that her hair - and a figure that slender almost _had _to be a she - had hair that was somewhere between blonde and being completely white.

Elsa.

She was out of her room, I noted in surprise.

_Of course she is. You're not there to hide from, anymore._

But... But she'd come to see me off, in her own way.

_You mean, she's making sure you actually leave? Of course she is. How many times does she have to yell at you and tell you to leave her alone until you realize that she hates you?_

H-Hates...? But... Elsa wouldn't...

_Wouldn't she? How would you know?_

My smile was frozen on my face, and my knuckles had gone white from gripping the deckrail so tightly. (I think that's what it was called, anyway... Haven't we already established that I was new to the whole 'being on a boat' thing?) Luckily, since I was so far away, she couldn't make out my expression any more than I could see hers. Admittedly, Mother and Father probably _could_, if they were still there, but my gaze remained locked on my sister... and I could swear she was staring right back at me. It was a fair bit of work just to keep my breathing level, to not outwardly react. To not let anything show.

Because I didn't know. I didn't really know _anything _about Elsa, anymore. I didn't know what she liked to read. I didn't know what her favorite foods were (except chocolate, of course; I felt completely confident _that _would never change). Favorite colors, hobbies, clothing, hair styles... This distant glimpse was the first time I'd actually laid eyes on my sister in... Two months? Three? I didn't even know, anymore.

_I didn't know anything. _

I take some pride in the fact that my exterior didn't reflect how much that knowledge was killing me inside.

Still, I wasn't _quite _good enough at Concealing that I would be able to make the whole trip feeling the way I did. Fortunately, I'd managed to figure out one way to... well, vent some of my excess emotion, for lack of a better term.

I started to sing.

_"So I found a reason to stay alive_

_Try a little harder, see the other side_

_Talking to myself_

_Too many sleepless nights_

_Trying to find a meaning to this stupid life_

_I don't want your sympathy_

_Sometimes I don't know who to be_

_Hey, what you're looking for_

_No one has the answer_

_They just want more_

_Hey, who's gonna make it right?_

_This could be the first_

_Day of my life"_

* * *

And it could. I did my best to focus on that as the castle - as Arendelle - grew smaller and smaller. If I really was as unimportant - as _meaningless _- as my mind kept suggesting I was at home, maybe I could be someone new, someone better, while I was gone.

Because whatever it was that I'd done to damage my family so much, to cause them to pull away from me the way they did, no one at Institut Kronenberg would know about it. They wouldn't judge me for not living up to the standards Elsa set.

They'd just see me as Anna.

If I was careful, I might even be able to make it all three years I'd be there without them catching on.

Hopefully.

The first night on the ship, the first time I'd slept in a bed other than my own, surrounded by unfamiliar sights and sounds... Well, I'd never really understood - _truly _understood - what the term "homesick" meant before then.

I tried my best not to cry. Not even silently. I couldn't let anyone see, let them _know_. I had to be a good girl, the brave princess on her way to an exciting adventure. I _had to._

If anyone noticed my eyes being at all red, the sea air made a convenient excuse.

Fortunately, the voyage to the German Confederation took only a few days, so I was able to hold on to novelty and distraction it offered the whole way. I did regret that we didn't have time to explore the town of Wilhelmshaven after docking, as I'd never been to another country before - heck, I'd never left Arendelle at all before! It was a little intimidating, being out in the great big world for the first time, but at the same time, I wanted to see everything, to meet everyone.

I was so enthralled hy my surroundings, I forgot about my nerves, anxiety, and self-loathing, the excitement and enthusiasm I was so used to displaying coming as close to being genuine as they'd ever been.

For a while.

The next stage of the trip was by train, which was another new experience. This time, though, I was in good company in that respect. The steam locomotive was a new enough concept that much of Europe (and the rest of the world, for that matter) had never been on one.

Privately, I mused that it was a shame Arendelle was too small to need one, either for tourism or for trade - it was rather enjoyable. Faster than sea travel, and not at all dependent on the fickle wind.

One of the things I'd done before leaving home was seclude myself in the library with an atlas and several books on all the countries I'd be traveling through (Switzerland especially). I didn't really expect something I hadn't covered with my tutors to come up anywhere outside of the classroom (and being in a class larger than one would be a new, potentially scary and/or exciting experience), but on the off-chance it did, I didn't want to come off as some uneducated, uncultured, backwater, know-nothing royal.

That was why it occurred to me that, as the train we were currently on (there was no direct route to Switzerland, let alone Institut Kronenberg, which meant switching trains at several points during the journey... and no exploring, sadly) passed swiftly through the German Confederation, that we weren't all _that _far away from Corona.

I sighed quietly as I looked out the window of the small, tastefully decorated compartment I'd been assigned to. (I didn't _have _to stay in there, and certainly didn't for meals, but I'd noticed that my guards got a bit... twitchy... when I was surrounded by strangers, so I tried to accommodate them whenever I could.)

If there was anyone who had a more screwed up life than my family, it was Aunt Lillian and Uncle Alexander. First Aunt Lillian had fallen ill while with child, leading to a country-wide search for a legendary magical flower with incredible healing properties - and I do mean country-wide. And it wasn't just the guards looking, either. Everyone who was able to do so set out to scour the landscape to find it. (Father had always smiled fondly when he'd told me that part of the story, obviously touched by how devoted his sister's subjects were to their Queen. I couldn't blame him.) And find it they did. The flower worked even better than they'd hoped, saving both mother and child, and she'd given birth to a beautiful baby girl who swiftly began growing a headful of long, flowing blonde hair. (Which was a bit odd, given that both of her parents were brunettes, but otherwise I'm not sure why he'd mention that part.)

For a time - a very brief time - everything was perfect.

Then their daughter was stolen.

Don't ask me how someone managed to sneak _into _the palace in the first place, let alone back out _with a crying baby_, but they did. And no one could find them. Even now, fifteen years later, no one knew what had become of the lost princess.

Given how often it had (subtly) been impressed upon me over the years that I was the Spare to the Throne, I'd wondered why they didn't try having another child. Certainly the flower had fixed whatever had gone wrong the first time, hadn't it? Father would always smile sadly and shake his head. Evidently, it had only treated the symptoms, rather than the source of the problem, and they couldn't risk any other children. (How he knew that for sure, I had no idea, but even when I was young, I'd been sensitive enough to know when _not _to ask questions like that.) As for who the next heir to the throne of Corona would be if the never found her...

The fact that Father never said anything at all about that was fairly telling.

I had no idea how I would have held up, in Aunt Lillian's place. To have your perfect life ripped away so suddenly, and so brutally... At least she and Uncle Alexander still had each other. I wondered, sometimes, what it would be like, to have someone to share things like that with. Someone to hold you when you needed it, and to hold when they did. A friend, a partner.

Someone to love.

_"So I found a reason_

_To let it go_

_Tell you that I'm smiling_

_But I still need to grow_

_Will I find salvation in the arms of love?_

_Will it stop me searching, will it be enough?_

_I don't want your sympathy_

_Sometimes I don't know who to be_

_Hey, what you're looking for_

_No one has the answer, but you just want more_

_Hey, who's gonna make it right?_

_This could be the first day of my life"_

* * *

Switzerland was... a little warmer than I'd expected.

It was _greener_, too. Oh, sure, there were snow-covered mountains in the distance all in almost every direction, if you looked far enough, but I was used to that. (They weren't the _right _mountains, but I pushed that reaction down as far as it could go.) It was all the trees, and the grass... and the flowers! Oh, God, all the flowers... The grounds of the train station alone were a riot of color, with _such _an amazing smell...

It wasn't home. But it was beautiful, and I thought that maybe - just maybe - I could get used to it.

_"The first time to really feel alive_

_The first time to break the chain_

_The first time to walk away from pain_

_Hey, what you're looking for_

_No one has the answer, we just want more_

_Hey, who's gonna make it right_

_This could be the first day of your life_

_Hey, what you're looking for_

_No one has the answer, they just want more_

_Hey, who's gonna shine alight?_

_This could be the first day of my life"_

The final leg of the journey to Institut Kronenberg was by coach. (I managed to say hello to the horse while the guards were loading my luggage onto it.) Pleasant enough, if a bit cramped. It wasn't that there were a _lot _of other people in the coach - only myself and the guards, as I was evidently the only student arriving right then - but the quarters were close enough that I had to be careful not to give away my rising anxiety as we drew closer and closer to the school.

Institut Kronenberg was tucked up against one of the mountains, surrounded by a low wall topped with a wrought iron fence - not enough to block the gorgeous view, but anyone trying to sneak in (or out, I supposed) would have to put some real effort into it. I could see a guard here and there, patrolling the grounds, and knew that, if this place was anything like Arendelle, for every guard you could see, there would be five or six that you couldn't. (Not until you'd been there long enough to learn their movements, anyway.) There was a considerably large lawn between the gates and the school itself, which puzzled me until I noticed my guards' approving expressions. Ah, another security feature, then. It made sense, I suppose, and this _was _supposed to be one of the safest of such schools...

_Speaking of which... _I turned my attention to the school itself. It wasn't as unnecessarily large as Arendelle's castle, but then, it didn't need to be. The colors were a bit drab - somewhere between gray and tan for the building itself, with the roof a duskier reddish shade - and aside from the sloping roof, the architecture was kind of boring. Well, to me, anyway. I suppose someone else, like Elsa, might have appreciated it more.

_If she still likes that sort of thing, that is._

But that was only the outside, I told myself firmly, ignoring the doubts whispering at me. I'd probably be spending the majority of my time inside - just like I did at home, though at least now I had all new rooms and hallways to learn, and people inside them to talk to - so the exterior wasn't really all that important.

I needed a few moments to gather up my courage once the carriage pulled to a stop near the front door. I could do this. I could _totally _do this. I could walk in there, refrain from tripping over my own feet, and impress whoever it was that ran this school. I could be sweet, and charming, and never let on how much I didn't really want to be here.

_Conceal it. Don't feel it._

"Time to put on a show," I murmured under my breath as I climbed out into the sunshine. (The weather really was beautiful here, which didn't seem entirely fair if I wasn't going to be allowed outside all that often."

The entry hall was... Well, it was large for a building this size, I suppose, but it was fairly cozy compared to the one back home. White tile flooring, with a curving stairway that lead upstairs on either side of the room. An intricate chandelier hung from the ceiling, bathing the room in a soft, amber glow. I wondered what it would look like without sunlight streaming in through the large windows behind me.

Not like I wouldn't have plenty of time to find out.

We were met a petite woman with short, curly brown hair that was gradually graying here and there. She was a bit taller than me - but really, who wasn't? - and impeccably dressed in a soft blue dress.

I smoothed out my own petticoat (green, of course) as best I could without being obvious about it, uselessly wishing I'd taken a few minutes to straighten up after the long ride. I'd just been so eager to _finally _stretch my legs...

"Princess Anna," she said with a friendly smile, giving me a brief, small bow. (Really, she didn't even need to do that, given that I was quite some ways away from where I was at all important.) "Welcome to Institut Kronenberg. My name is Sara Karlen, the school's Headmistress."

Fortunately, I'd at least been told to expect as much, or I might have been thrown off by the fact that she'd said it in English.

Institut Kronenberg was, after all, an international school. Trying to learn the languages of every girl from all over the place wasn't exactly practical - it made much more sense to have one official language. They probably offered classes for those who weren't all that fluent, but luckily, English was one of the languages that my tutors had _insisted _I learn, given how wide-spread it was - likely the same reason the school had chosen it. "Ma'am," I replied with a curtsey I was sure my protocol instructors would be proud of me for.

Her smile widened, and I knew I'd made the correct decision. I didn't want her to think I was some spoiled, bratty princess, like she'd no doubt seen before. At least I'd made one good first impression.

She launched into a welcoming spiel - we're glad to have you here, we're sure you'll do exceptionally, we hope you enjoy your time here - that, frankly, sounded so rehearsed, I was fairly certain it was the standard greeting for every new student. I almost interrupted to tell her that she didn't need to do that, as I was sure she had better things to be doing with her time, but fortunately, my manners kicked in at the last second, and I kept my mouth shut.

My schedule, along with the required books, would be waiting for me in my room. They had a fairly small number of students - it could vary, due to graduation rate versus new admissions, from anywhere between six to over thirty. I'd make an even dozen, which was still eleven more girls anywhere close to my age than I was used to having around. Despite that, there were only a few of the 'royal rooms' - there would be an attached room with a connecting door so that, if there were a problem, Daniel, the guard who was remaining (I'd made a point during the trip through France to Switzerland to learn who was whom), would be able to get to me with as little delay as possible - so it was fortunate that there was an opening, though, having already been there for two years previously, my new roommate obviously had already chosen her bed.

Wait, what?

Roommate?

I was torn between being excited at the prospect, and feeling a sense crushing depression - I wasn't going to have _anywhere _that I could really drop my mask, then, not even in the privacy of my bedchambers. (There was an attached lavatory, at least, so I'd have a bit of privacy while bathing, if nothing else.) Since I'd have a lot of trouble explaining the latter, I made a point of expressing the former.

My roommate, I learned as we headed upstairs, was a girl my age named Claire Nadeau, a princess - so we'd have at least one thing in common - from the country of Vevay. (I'd never heard of it, but then, she'd likely never heard of Arendelle, so that was fair.) I wanted to know more - a lot more - but that was going to mean actually talking to Claire myself, and getting to know her... something I was horribly out of practice in. Just thinking about all the ways I could screw things up made my stomach twist in anxiety.

_Conceal it, don't feel it. Come on, Anna, keep it together._

"Here we are," Headmistress Karlen said as she stopped outside one of the doors on the second floor. (The third floor, I learned, was mainly staff housing, along with the guards quarters. The first floor was divided between classrooms and staff areas, such as the kitchen and washrooms.) The floors were polished hardwood, likely both because they were easier to clean than carpeting and because they absorbed less sound, thus making it easier to catch any students sneaking about after curfew (another new concept to me, but one I felt I could adapt to easily enough). My first thought, however, was that if I built up enough speed, they would be _SO _fun to slide across.

I know, I know, you _wish _you were as mature as me.

The headmistress knocked on the door a few times, waited a moment, then opened it. The room was larger than my own bedroom back home, due to the necessity of including study areas on either side - each consisted of a desk, complete with paper and fountain pens, and a bookshelf with several reference tomes already on it.

Seated at one of them was an absolute vision.

She'd turned to face the door when it had opened, giving me a good look at her features. She had brown (chestnut, I decided after a moment's deliberation) hair that was long and curly, chocolate brown (milk chocolate, definitely) eyes that were currently wide enough to remind me of a doe, and was wearing a beautiful lavender dress. She was somehow delicate-looking without really being all _that_ fragile. (I honestly had no idea how she pulled that off.) She was like the living embodiment of every image I'd ever had in my head of the 'fairy-tale princess'.

Right about then, I (finally) realized I was staring.

I'd at least made it far enough into the room that the guards could bring in my belongings, and Daniel could deposit his own bags in his (significantly smaller) room, so I wasn't being _painfully _obvious about it.

Claire was staring right back at me.

Before I could begin worrying that I had something on my face, or that she was upset with me, she scrambled out of her seat, a faint blush dusting her cheeks.

Good Lord, it was adorable.

I wanted to assure her that I didn't care about her lapse in manners - not very Princess-like of me, I know, but if we were going to be living together, we couldn't be prim and proper _all _the time - but Headmistress Karlen was speaking. Had been for a while, I realized with some embarrassment of my own. "-lasses won't start until the beginning of next week, so you'll have a few days to settle in, first."

That was good to hear. I made myself smile and nod at the appropriate points, making it at least _look _like I'd been paying attention.

I made a point of thanking Karl and Bjørn (the other two guards) for their service before they left to begin the lengthy trip back to Arendelle. Their matching looks of mild surprise said they weren't quite used to being thanked just for doing their job, especially by one of the royals, but that they certainly didn't mind. After they were gone, Daniel went off with Headmistress Karlen to get better acquainted with the school, giving me strict instructions not to leave the room until he got back.

Then I was alone.

With Claire.

True to form, I blurted out the first thing to enter my mind. "I love your hair!"

She blinked in surprise. "I... I'm sorry?"

"Your hair. It's just so..." I waved vaguely at her head. "I wish mine could do that. That's one of the reasons I never wear it loose."

"Oh. Um, thank you." She took a breath, and seemed to find her conversational footing. "I assure you, though, it can be... difficult, at times, to maintain."

I tried hard not to stare. Really I did. "Oh, my God, please keep talking."

I'd caught her off-guard again. "...what?"

"You have the loveliest accent I've ever heard in my entire _life_." How was it even legal for someone to be that cute?

"...thank you." I was probably weirding her out, but... Well, we had a while to adjust to each other's behaviors, right? Better she learn about my tendency to ramble and/or blurt out inappropriate things now, when it was just the two of us.

"Yeah, I know, I'm... odd, sometimes," I said with a casual wave as I moved over to my side of the room to begin unpacking. "You'll get used to it, promise. And really, I'm looking forward to this - I haven't had a roommate of any kind in _years._ So, um, I apologize in advance if I snore, or anything. I don't think I do, but, you know, just in case. Are you French? I mean, you kind of sound it - I really do love your voice, by the way - but I don't really think France is a monarchy, anymore. Or at least not much of one. Though, I guess you don't have to be. I mean, look at the British Empire. Not that I think poorly of the British. I don't, believe me. It's just that-"

"Anna."

I broke off my ramble - and really, that was a bit beyond anything I might have thought would make a good demonstration, so it was just as well - and looked up from the trunk I was unpacking.

Claire's pleasant expression was starting to look just the slightest bit strained. "Vevay is on the border of France. Also, I don't wish to be rude, but I was in the middle of writing some correspondence when you arrived, which I really should get back to."

I was staring at her with what I'm sure must have been a goofy expression, but luckily I threw it off in short order. "Oh, of course! Please, don't let me stop you. I do apologize for interrupting, by the way."

She shook her head. "Apology accepted, but unnecessary. You could hardly have known, after all." With that, she retreated to her desk, and I resumed unpacking. As I began hanging things up in my closet, I heard her mutter something softly to herself. French wasn't my best language, but I understood enough to get the basic idea of what she said.

"This is going to be a long three years..."

* * *

Author's notes: As some of you may have picked up, there are a few things in this story that I'm tweaking to make things flow better - making Rapunzel and Anna the same age, for one. Also, as I believe the events of Frozen are set somewhere in the 1830s-1840s (1830s, in this particular story), trains weren't widely in use until much later. The extent of indoor plumbing is also a bit hard to pin down. Given that this is an AU, I don't think these changes will be all that big of a deal.

R&R - reviews are the muse's fuel! ^_^


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